The Untold Love Story
by kaletra7
Summary: Think of the final GDI video in Tiberian Sun. And now think about what might have happened afterwards. What happened to McNeil and Umagon's relationship after the events of the final conflict? Slight AU - Because the 'romance' at the end never happened.
1. A Dream and a Mission

**As the summary stated, 'Too Damn Stubborn' was really just testing to see if this sort of thing would get good reception, whereas this is the story that explains **_**everything**_**, and will have better characterisation than my first attempt :P**

**And, on with the writing! Please enjoy, and leave a review :)**

Commander Michael 'Mac' McNeil of the Global Defence Initiative was in the middle of an excellent dream. He was back home, with his parents, his siblings, and his nieces and nephew. The entire family was there. It was summer, and they were out in the meadow with the dogs.

Everything seemed to be totally perfect.

But even while he was having the dream, he couldn't treat it as reality. His father was dead. _Jake _was dead. And he couldn't forget about those two deaths, even during a dream where everything was alright.

Even so, he was still disappointed when Chandra's voice interrupted his dream and jolted him back into reality.

'Sir, General Solomon wants to speak to us all. It would be wise to get to the bridge as soon as possible.'

McNeil sat up in bed and blinked a couple of times. Chandra's voice was coming through the speaker to his right.

'Goddamn it, Chandra. It's three in the morning, does Solomon not sleep?'

He heard Chandra chuckle. 'I do not know, sir, but I think he is losing patience. Try to hurry up?'

'Will do.'

McNeil pushed the covers to one side and eased his legs over the edge of the bed. He was already practically dressed, so he just took his jacket off the back of a chair and tugged it on. His boots were the final addition to his uniform, and then he left his room and made his way to the bridge.

The fact that he was both the highest authority aboard the Kodiak, _and _the last person to arrive on the bridge, probably wasn't a very pleasing combination to General Solomon, but McNeil just strode in anyway, and took his seat in the centre of the small room. Brink and Chandra were already in their respective seats, and Umagon was leaning against the wall to McNeil's left, glaring inconspicuously at Solomon. While he was a respected General of GDI, it was no secret among his troops that Solomon possessed a strong dislike for mutants.

'Ah, McNeil, nice of you to join us,' Solomon said dryly. McNeil said nothing, but shuffled uncomfortably in his seat. Solomon gave him a stern glare, and then continued. 'Since you seem so… _eager_ to spend time with the Shiners, McNeil, I have a mission for you.' If possible, Umagon's eyes hardened even further, but she said nothing.

McNeil nodded. 'What do I have to do?'

'The Brotherhood have step up a base near to a mutant camp that we've allied with. They don't have the weapons or soldiers to take out the entire base, so we've agreed to send a squad of infantry to help them. I'd like you to go too, to make sure everything runs smoothly.'

'Sure.'

'Thank you, Mac.'

The transmission cut out with a beep, and McNeil turned to look at Umagon. 'You wanna come?'

Umagon looked at him, and let herself smile at his offer. McNeil knew it had been a while since she had been with her people, and hoped she would jump at the chance to visit.

'Sure,' she answered, and followed him from the bridge.

**I hope this was a satisfying opening :) About the Solomon thing, just from watching the cutscenes I get the impression that he's no big fan.**

'**First rescue Hamburg. The **_**Shiners **_**can wait, and that is an order!'**

**Review please :) Anonymous reviews accepted :)**


	2. A Story and a Buggy

**Well, it seems you're getting an update quicker than you (or I…) thought. I'm ill, which gives me a lot more time on my hands…**

**And if this seems totally ridiculous, it's because I'm watching Scrubs, 'kay?**

The Orca Transport had left them somewhere in the vicinity of the mutant camp, but since the Forgotten didn't like to stay in one place, actually locating the camp was going to be difficult. However, Umagon's presence probably gave them an advantage, as any mutant scouts they came across would trust their presence.

Well, that was the theory anyway.

One of the infantrymen turned to McNeil. 'Orders, sir?'

McNeil glanced around the area. They were in what seemed to be a desert, and the few sandy cliffs around them shielded the location from any kind of inconspicuous ground assault. It was probably the best place they were going to find to set up camp. He turned and looked at the half-a-dozen squad of infantry.

'Gleaves, Shepherd, Curtis and Haworth, you stay here and secure the area. Take a look around the valley, but don't go too far. We'll camp here for now. Wyatt and Reyes, you're with me.'

Two men stepped forward and joined McNeil, and the other four proceeded to throw their bags to the ground and begin unpacking the two-man tents. McNeil turned to Umagon and nodded at her.

'You're with me too, Xena'.

McNeil was slightly shocked by her blank reaction, and made a mental note to explain 'Xena-Warrior Princess' to her at some point. Nevertheless, he led the way South, down the valley, and out into the open space of the desert.

The sun was literally scorching all four of them, as they continued their patrol of the area. It was around midday, and the weather was the hottest it could possibly be. All three men had stripped down to their t-shirts, and Umagon had taken off her armoured jacket and left herself in a tank top. Every one of them knew that removing their jackets was making them a lot more vulnerable than they would be otherwise, but it was either take that chance, or slow-roast.

McNeil and Umagon had walked ahead, about 50 metres in front of the two soldiers. He could hear Reyes and Wyatt laughing and talking behind them, and suddenly had an urge to strike up a conversation with Umagon, if only to break the tense silence around the pair of them. However, it was actually Umagon that spoke first.

'I believe…' she began, then looked up at him and faltered. 'Never mind.'

'No, go on.'

She blinked, then started again. 'I can see that this war troubles you, Mac.' He could tell by the way she said his name that she was still unfamiliar with using the nickname, but he found it comforting that she was treating him like a friend.

He tilted his head in thought, and then shrugged. 'Well, it's not my favourite pastime, but I guess I'm getting used to it.'

'But you would rather it wasn't happening?'

'I guess so.'

'I have been told by many of my people that talking about family and friends back home helps to ease the pain of war.'

McNeil could just about see where she was going with this. 'Where should I start?'

'It was only a suggestion. I didn't mean you have to…'

McNeil interrupted her. 'My parents split when I was eight years old. I never saw my father after that, but he apparently died in a plane crash a couple of years later. My mother was pretty happy about that. When I was very young, he used to treat our family like the most precious thing in the universe. But then, when I was six, my sister Rachael was born and things turned ugly. He started to treat Rachael and I we were special to him, but Mom became less and less important. Then my mom got pregnant again, this time with Jake, and Dad totally lost his mind.'

McNeil turned to see how Umagon was taking his story, but she seemed totally interested, so he continued.

'Dad started to hit Mom, but she was never a weak person. As soon as she realised that he wasn't going to go back to his old self, she threw him out. Jake never even knew his dad: my mom was only six months along when Dad left. Jake was a good kid…'

She laid a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to her. 'You don't have to talk about him, Mac. I know he was a good man, and a loyal soldier. He did not deserve to die.'

'No, he didn't. But the men that killed him do.'

'I know how that feels.'

He gave her a questioning look, and she explained.

'I know how it feels to lose loved ones by the hand of the Brotherhood. I never knew any of my real family, but Tratos has been the father figure in my life for as long as I can remember, and probably the only person I've ever known all of my life. Everyone I used to know is long gone.'

McNeil's reply didn't have time to escape. At that exact moment, there was a sound of an engine, and the four only just managed to throw themselves to the ground in time to avoid being torn apart by the gun mounted on a Nod attack buggy. Umagon was the first to recover, and she rolled over onto her stomach in the sand and fired repeatedly at the buggy. McNeil pushed himself into a crouch and joined her assault on the buggy. The other two soldiers were already firing their weapons, and the buggy was reduced to shredded scrap metal before it could turn and come at them again.

Umagon pushed herself slowly into a kneeling position. The buggy had come from a slope that they were facing. She couldn't see what was at the top of the slope, but she could hear the vague noises of shouting, and whirrings that only really belonged in a base.

They'd found it.

'Mac?' she muttered. 'The Brotherhood's base is at the top of that slope.'

She received a quiet grunt in response. Frowning slightly, she turned to see McNeil sprawled in the sand, with a bullet hole in the shoulder of his shirt. Quickly, she sprinted over to him and knelt at his side. Thankfully, the bullet had only hit his shoulder, but it was embedded tightly in his skin.

By this time, Reyes had noticed the lack of movement from his commanding officer.

'Is he okay, Ma'am?'

Being treated with a level of respect by a GDI soldier wasn't something she was used to, but she wasn't going to bother about that right now.

'He will be fine, as long as we get him back to camp quickly.'

Reyes took hold of McNeil's uninjured arm and pulled him up, draping McNeil's arm over his shoulder. Umagon gently took hold of his other arm and carefully helped him along the sand, with Reyes acting as a prop.

'Wyatt, cover us!' Reyes shouted to Wyatt, who took hold of his gun and ran behind the three figures, facing the Nod base in case of any other attacks.

McNeil mumbled something that was either 'I can walk, you know', or 'My auntie starred in a porno', but no-one was in a position to try and guess which.

**Okay, that last sentence was a bit of a fail, but overall I'm pretty pleased with this :)**

**Tell me what you thinnkkkkk :D**


	3. A Bullet and Bunny Socks

**I probably should have updated this a while ago… but I've been in Austria, and then in Germany and shiz…**

**Oh, and something that may possibly amuse you, my mum was playing Tiberian Sun the other day, and was on the mission 'Rescue Tratos.' Well, sometimes when you click on Umagon, she says 'Gimme an order', so mum just looked at her and went 'Stand over there, out of the way, and stop being such a disrespectful bitch, 'kay?'**

The four had made it back to their camp without further incident. A couple of soldiers stood guard outside the tents, and the others were either sleeping, or, in Umagon's case, removing a bullet from McNeil's arm.

'Can you lift your arms?' she asked him softly.

McNeil slowly raised both of his arms above his head. Umagon took hold of the bottom of his t-shirt and carefully pulled it off over his head, taking care not to aggravate the wound any further. She cast it to one side and took hold of a rather menacing pair of tweezers.

'I would tell you that this is going to hurt, but you probably know that already,' Umagon said quietly, holding the tweezers over a lighter to heat them. McNeil eyed the tweezers warily.

'Just get it over with,' he muttered, taking in a deep breath. Umagon shuffled slightly closer to him, then softly blew on the lighter to extinguish the flame. The red hot tweezers glowed briefly, catching McNeil's eye and raising his heart rate just a little. He knew removing bullets was painful at the best of times, but here with no advanced medical equipment, he was just going to have to grit his teeth and bear it.

Slowly, almost _too _slowly, Umagon shuffled once again towards him. She glanced up into his eyes, almost like she was seeking final permission before she put him through agony. He gave a tiny nod, and then gritted his teeth and waited for her to dig the tweezers into his flesh. She clamped her left hand onto his shoulder, and pressed the tweezers in her right into his skin. He hissed and his entire body jolted with the burning sensation.

She hated to put people through this. Although getting shot was obviously painful, she could _almost _argue that having bullets removed was even worse. At least, if no anaesthetic could be provided. Umagon pushed the tweezers into the wound, and McNeil almost cried out in pain. She watched him clamp his teeth together and lower his head. She twisted the tweezers again and knew the pain had intensified, but it even shocked her when McNeil raised a hand and grabbed her forearm, squeezing it hard between his ragged breaths.

'Mac?' she asked, unsure of the amount of pain he was in.

'Don't stop now,' he hissed through gritted teeth. 'Just, do it quickly, please!'

Umagon felt the tweezers connect with the bullet and, while trying to ignore McNeil's painful grasp on her arm, she opened out the tweezers and grabbed the bullet between the metal clasps.

McNeil felt every tiny movement that the tweezers made inside his arm, and it hurt like _hell_. Once he felt her grasp the bullet, he just pulled his arm back, wanting to get the pain over with as soon as possible. The pain dulled to an aching throb, and Umagon was left with a mangled bullet between the plates of the tweezers. She dropped the tweezers to the ground and looked at him with disbelief, which quickly turned to anger.

'You are a lucky man, blunt,' she hissed. 'If my hand moved then, half your arm would have been ripped open. Has no one ever told you not to move when someone is removing a bullet from you?'

'Yes, but your hand didn't move, did it?'

'It could have done.'

McNeil sighed and looked down, noting the fact that he still had an iron grip on Umagon's forearm. He let go quickly, and mumbled an apology. She glared at him for a moment longer, then crawled over towards her own sleeping bag. McNeil frowned.

'Aren't you gonna bind this?'

She raised an eyebrow. 'I'm sure you're capable of doing that for yourself.' With that comment made, she began unlacing one of her hefty boots.

In the next minute, two things surprised McNeil. The first was that Umagon was wearing bunny socks. The second was that she allowed him to see that she was wearing bunny socks. He allowed himself to smirk at this thought, as it wasn't likely that she would ever wear bunny socks again in his presence, so it was a precious moment indeed.

Reaching for a few rolls of bandage, McNeil began to bind the wound in his shoulder. Although she was pretending not to, he could see that Umagon was watching him. Probably waiting for the bandage to slip or something, so that she could make some comment about how useless he was. This thought, despite the fact he didn't believe it, forced him to concentrate on what he was doing.

As he finished and tied the bandage into a knot, he shot a satisfied smile at her. She grunted and pulled her blanket around herself, turning so that her back was to McNeil. He sighed and eased himself into his sleeping bag, wincing slightly as he leaned his weight on his injured arm. He faced Umagon's back, and could just see the silhouette of her body in the darkness. Sighing slightly, he watched her breathe a couple of times and then closed his eyes.

'Night, blunt,' she murmured, and McNeil could hear the smirk in her voice.

'Night, shiner,' he replied, grinning.

**Review? I promise I'll try and update quicker next time. And I actually have a plotline for this story now, which is always a good thing…**


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